More and more people are saying goodbye to the nine to five office life and trying to forge their own path by going into business for themselves. On the surface, it sounds perfect; no boss to answer to, the chance to set your own hours, and getting to work on something that truly inspires you. However, there are some things to consider before you give up your day job to become a full time entrepreneur.
Are you ready?
Even if you have an brilliant business idea, not everyone has what it takes to be an entrepreneur. Before you take any drastic steps, make sure you’re prepared for all the work that it’s going to require; cold calling, months of working 24/7, and intensive market research to find out whether your idea is even viable. You don’t have to go all in right from the beginning. You can test the waters by starting with a small website and slowing promoting your business in your spare time. If business isn’t booming as much as you thought it would, at least you’ll have an extra source of income.
Have a clear idea
Although you might have a clear image in your mind about the kind of business you’d like to start, putting it on paper might not be so easy. It may seem obvious, but if you can outline your business in three clear points, then you have something to constantly refer back to. Write them on post-it notes and keep them on a wall in your kitchen, or somewhere that you walk past every day. Don’t be afraid to tweak the plans along the way if necessary, but writing it down will keep your business idea clear in your mind as you go about the next steps, and it will keep you from straying too far from your original plans.
Research your target audience
Your business won’t be successful unless you have people buying from you, and you won’t sell anything if it’s not in high demand. Conducting market research will give you confirmation that people will buy your product or service, and how much they are willing to pay for it. A cost-effective way to do this is to use free tools like SurveyMonkey to ask an impartial audience relevant questions about your product. Share your survey on social media to get as wide a net as possible. Once you have your feedback, you need to use it to make any necessary adjustments or improvements to your idea.
Start with a website
Most businesses, big or small, have a website to promote their company and connect with their customers. For a fledgling entrepreneur, this is a great way to test whether their idea is viable, and develop it further depending on the feedback they get from customers. Setting up a website is so easy, the almost everyone now has one; just go to a web hosting site such as www.wizzhosting.co.uk to find a unique and memorable domain name that reflects your business idea, and start designing an eye-catching website with engaging content. The more you blog, the more your following will grow, and you will see how much interest there is in your idea.
Promote
It’s no good designing a website to test the viability of your idea if not enough people are visiting said website. Make a social media profile for your website and regularly post links to your articles, promote your special offers, and do your best to connect with your followers. Attend trade shows and market your business idea to established professionals; they have been where you are so any advice they have for you is invaluable. If you’re lucky, some of them might even be willing to invest in your idea.
Figure out the finances
Sometimes you have to spend money to make money. But to do this you need to have money in the first place. You can manage your future business more effectively if you know from the beginning how much all your necessities will cost you; this could include your website hosting, the cost of creating your products, or doing research into how much your services are worth. Once you’ve established a budget you need to determine whether you’ll need investors or a business loan to finance your business. If you’ve made any business contacts at this point, they’ll be more willing to invest in you if you have a solid business plan.
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Would suggest registering the business name which should be the same as the web domain name to prevent future confusion. Would also suggest that they run a quick paper and pencil analysis to see what it will cost to run the business on a monthly basis so they know at a minimum what level of revenue they’ll need just to stay afloat.
Would also recommend that they grab as many social media ‘handles’ as they can for future use and brand protection.